Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Semana Santa, or Holy Week, runs from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday and is
one of the best times to visit Antigua for the elaborate Catholic pageantry sur-
rounding these holy days. Visitors come from around the world to see the col-
orful, solemn processions in which life-size images of Christ and other Cathol-
ic icons are paraded through the city's cobblestone streets. Before the proces-
sions pass through, Antigueños design and produce exquisite, though ephemeral,
alfombras, or carpets made of colored sawdust and flowers. The parade floats,
or andas, pass over the carpets, forever erasing their elaborate patterns under the
feet of faithful cucuruchos, purple-clad bearers who carry the floats, which can
weigh up to 3.5 tons and require 80 men to carry them. The bearers are accom-
panied by Roman soldiers and other robed figures who carry swaying, copal-
laden incense burners. It can be quite a moving experience to see the swaying
floats with images of a cross-bearing Christ bearing down on the men amid thick
smoke.
A highlight of the week's festivities is a Good Friday event occurring at 3
A.M.inwhichRomansoldiersonhorsebackgallopthroughthestreetsproclaim-
ingChrist'sdeathsentence.Thoughseverallocalchurchesparticipateinthefest-
ivities, the largest procession is the one leaving from La Merced on Good Fri-
day with the 17th-century image of Jesús Nazareno (Jesus of Nazareth). Anoth-
er well-known procession is that of the Escuela de Cristo, which features some
striking images on its parade floats.
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